Tyra Collette
Tyra Collette is a fictional character on the television show Friday Night Lights. She is the daughter of Angela Collette and younger sister of Mindy Collette. She is one of the only people in the town who doesn't follow football religiously, and is extremely eager to leave Dillon behind. Season One Tyra is an over-sexualized girl resigned to getting by in life based on her looks, although she is smart and resourceful. She works as a waitress at Applebee's while her older sister, Mindy Collette, is a stripper at the local strip club The Landing Strip. The two live in a house with their single mother, Angela, who is loving but inattentive. Tyra is in an on-and-off relationship with Tim Riggins. After Jason Street is paralyzed, Tyra is frustrated and disgusted with Tim's unwillingness to visit him in the hospital. She breaks up with him and promises it's for good. Tyra goes on to have a brief relationship with a Los Angeles developer, Connor Hayes, who scopes out Dillon for future projects. The two sleep together, but Tyra is shown to be upset when Connor tells her that he has a girlfriend the next morning and will be returning to her. She appears to have a passionate dislike towards Lyla Garrity and is furious and devastated when she discovers Lyla and Tim's affair. Tim later apologizes to her and asks for a second chance, promising things will be different. Although Tyra clearly has strong feelings for Tim, she declines for the reason that doing so would make her no better than the rest of the women in her family - allowing men who constantly mistreat them back into their lives. While Tyra harbors a lot of dislike towards Lyla, but they both seem to come to an understanding about the other. Tyra goes on to form a close friendship with Julie Taylor, taking the younger girl under her wing. Although Tami does not approve of their friendship, believing Tyra to be a bad influence, she soon sees another side of Tyra after seeing her take care of her drunk mother and realizes that Tyra is a misunderstood young woman who has not seen many positive female influences. Tami vows to take Tyra under her wing and get her into college, a future Tyra entertains and is excited about. At the end of the season, Tyra has become a strong, determined young woman. She strikes up a friendship with Landry Clarke, who has been tutoring her and is in love with her. On a study date with Landry, he doesn't show up due to car trouble. Tyra leaves, but is sexually assaulted and nearly raped by a stranger, Mike Caldwell, in the Alamo Freeze parking lot. Landry shows up just in time. Tyra is embarrassed by her assault and afraid to speak up. Landry tells Tami behind Tyra's back, who then goes on to file a police report. Tyra is initially furious at Landry and tells him off, but later apologizes and thanks him, and their relationship deepens. Season Two Tyra and Landry are now good friends. Tyra is still haunted by the memories of her assault, especially after she sees Mike's truck following her. When Tyra waits for Landry to come out of a convenience store at night, Mike tries to attack her again. Landry comes out and attempts to subdue him, but fails and is resorted hitting him on the back of the head with a piece of metal pipe, which kills him. The two dispose of his body in the river. Landry is consumed with guilt after the murder. Tyra makes things worse by telling him to suck it up and be a man. Landry becomes angry at her and says that he's in love with her and that she knows it but just uses him. Tyra realizes her feelings for Landry and sleeps with him, taking his virginity, and the two begin a romantic relationship. Landry's father, a police officer, suspicious of Tyra's involvement in Mike's murder and her relationship with his son, tells Tyra to end things with Landry. She does so, regretfully. During this time, Tyra joins the volleyball team at Tami's request, and stands out as a blocker. Tyra later keeps Landry at arm's length, confused with the intensity of what she feels for him. She later realizes the extent of her feelings when he begins seeing another girl, and the two make their relationship official and public. Season 3 Tyra and Landry have broken up, but remain friends. Tyra gets a rude awakening when the new Dillon High counselor tells her that her overall GPA is still too low for her to be accepted to any schools, which severely discourages her. She spends the season either determinedly working towards her goal of getting into college or giving up. Through some not exactly fair tricks, Tyra becomes Student Body president. Tyra meets a cowboy named Cash Waller at the Dillon Rodeo and is immediately taken by his charms and arresting personality. She chooses him over an upset Landry. Tyra breaks up with Cash when a woman claiming to be the mother of his child knocks on her door and demands to know his whereabouts in order to receive child support, but Cash insists that she's lying and Tyra takes him back. She later joins him on a rodeo tour, but realizes that he's a gambler and is in a dangerous amount of debt. He becomes abusive when she threatens to leave. Tyra calls Tami to pick her up from Dallas in the middle of the night. Back in Dillon, Tyra asks Landry for help studying, then asks him to blow off his band practice to have a sandwich with her. Landry finally snaps and becomes frustrated with Tyra for taking advantage of him and compares their relationship to the Giving Tree, accusing Tyra of being selfish by taking and taking from him until he has nothing left to give. Tyra realizes that she hasn't been fair to him and books an important gig for his band, Crucifictorious, which is successful. The pair begin dating again soon after. Tyra's older sister Mindy becomes engaged to Billy Riggins, and Tyra helps her prepare for her wedding by throwing her a bachelorette tea party with the aid of Landry. Afterwards, Tyra realizes that remaining in Dillon may be a very real prospect for her if she doesn't get into college and breaks down. Her mother Angela comforts her and says that although she never knows what to expect with Tyra, she knows that Tyra will go on to do great things. Tyra's college essay attempts don't go so well. She finally admits to Landry that seeing Jason Street become paralyzed changed her perspective, because she realized life wasn't fair for anyone, not just her. She said she used to "have enough hate in her heart to start a freaking car" but is no longer that way. Tyra is eventually put on the waitlist at UT Austin. She and Landry drive down in hopes of convincing the admissions director to accept her, but he tells her that there are over 1,000 people on the waitlist. Tyra despairs at this news, but Landry tells her that she has to start believing in herself, because he does completely. Tyra later gets a letter informing her that she's been accepted and joyfully embraces Landry and her family. Season 4 Tyra is away at UT Austin and is not seen. Landry is still hung up on her, but realizes that their relationship is over when she doesn't meet him at a rest stop like they had planned. Season 5 Tyra reconnects with Tim Riggins, who is uncharacteristically angry after being in prison and has plans to move to Alaska. She persuades him to repair his relationship with Billy. The two share a kiss and end up spending the night together. In the morning, Tyra takes Tim to his land. As the two are looking at it, Tyra says "Alaska, Tim?" Tim smiles guiltily. In the finale, Tyra is apprehensive about getting back together with Tim. Finally, as they are sitting outside, Tyra admits to him that she's been in love with him since she was five, but has dreams that she's unwilling to give up. Tim tells her that he has dreams too, and suggests that maybe one day their dreams can merge together. Tyra smiles at this and seems to like the idea. Category:Female Characters Category:West Dillon